The Odd Couple
by bhut
Summary: Pre-Series AU. Leo wakes up married to Raina. This is when things get intense.


**The Odd Couple**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners._

 _Note: this story is rated 'M' for sexual scenes and the like._

Leo Fitz hates following the others' lead. He loves to create, to do things independently, to make things work where none had worked before.

So does Jemma Simmons, save that in her case it is less of engineering and more of biology, genetics, the works – and as such they mesh very, very well – in fact, maybe too well. Sometimes Leo Fitz feels that the FitzSimmons are truly that – the FitzSimmons, and he is not sure that he is ready for that. As a consequence, when a bunch of fellow soon-to-be-graduates invite him along onto some party out of town – he accepts, figuring, (in his own personal way), that if things don't go his way, he can always split – and maybe he does. He does not remember, you see, the silly boy – the night quickly became a blur of booze and bison (stakes, not real bison, that is), and he lost track, and now he found himself in bed.

It is a smallish bed. It is not much bigger than the bunks in the Academy. The fact that there is another person in it only makes it smaller.

Wait. What other person?

Leo gets onto his feet (forgetting that he is naked – like, really naked) and looks around. A woman stares back at him from the bed – clearly _not_ Simmons (she is back at the Academy). She may be few months older than Fitz, possibly an inch is or too taller than he is, with long curly black hair (and eyelashes), fine facial features, warm chocolate skin, and a look in her big eyes that is oddly...fearful.

Leo Fitz had never before seen a woman stare at him fearfully (or otherwise, really, but that is not the point). He is quite certain he does not like it. "Hi!" he says brightly, waving his hands in non-threatening gestures (and yes, he is still unaware that he is naked). "I'm Leo! And you are?"

"Raina," the woman replies slowly, almost huskily, make Fitz rather aware that his own voice is rather high-pitched. "I think that you're...my husband?"

She pulls out her right hand from beneath the blanket. Then she sits up, and the blanket slides off, revealing her own nudity, but Leo does not care for once – he sees her ring. He looks at his own hands – there is a matching ring too. It is not fancy, it is not sparkly, it is not – but it is real, and solid, and what else would you call it.

"So," Raina says, still sounding oddly fearful, "we're married."

"Yes," Leo begins to say something empowering, when something else catches his eyes: one of Raina's thighs. It is warm creamy chocolate in color, and nicely curved, and has small dark hairs on it that are also oddly curly. Before Leo can think about what he is doing, he is reaching out and is touching her – his _wife_. His gaze also captures hers, and there is something in it, something dark and passionate and – she is touching him, moving slowly up his own legs with her fingers, her long and clever fingers.

...Later Leo Fitz would realize what he had found initially strange about Raina's fingers – they were familiar looking: other students at the Academy, who had to work with sophisticated machines, wash test tubes and the like, too had had fingers like these...but at the moment he didn't care about the other students, for it was Raina, only Raina, who had her fingers upon 'Little Leo' for the moment, and was gently caressing him, making him big and strong.

...So Leo had given his manhood a name – sue him. For the moment, this is not the issue. The issue is that when Leo had been little, he had had phimosis – it isn't an STD, but morally it was debilitating, and throughout his life Leo had been aware that on the average he had been smaller and less brawny than the other boys; less hairy, even in S.H.I.E.L.D., where some men appeared to be part bison or bear in lieu of their (body) hair, making Leo feel somewhat effeminate too.

Right now, Leo doesn't feel small, or week, and certainly not effeminate – rather, he is feeling quite big and strong and full to the point of bursting, and so, (guided by Raina's eager hands), 'Little Leo' is not just loaded, but also locked onto the small, soft and warm center, where his load is discharged. Repeatedly. Leo may be making some sort of sound; Raina is certainly making some sort of sound as she arches backwards, giving Leo a very impressive eyeful; Leo does not care. With Raina's legs wrapped around him tightly, he just does it the way his ancestors did in the old Scotland – and he does not let them down: as soon as he – they – are finally finished and fall onto the bed, finally spent, the bed gives way.

Go Scotland!

/

"This was slightly embarrassing," Leo tells Raina as they take the elevator ride downstairs. In a good-natured way, mind, for the hotel staff had been understanding – this is not the first incident with their beds – but still. "I'm usually more restrained like this. And also, again, I'm Leo."

"Leo, the lion," Raina tastes the name (Leo finds it sexy). "Yes, you have the heart of the lion – and the strength, and the determination, of a ram. Or maybe even a bison."

"Really?" Leo blushes. "I'm more of a brains guy, myself. There is this thing with dendrotoxin that Simmons and I are working on-" he catches himself, as something flashes in Raina's eyes:

"You're _that_ Fitz?" she gasps.

"I was that Fitz – sort of," Leo counters. "You've seen the paperwork, right? I took your name – Underwood. It's a good name – much better than Fitz."

Raina stares at him, her eyes opaque. "Why?" she asks quietly and there it is again – that undercurrent of uncertainty, of fear in her voice. Leo hates it, in general and in Raina specifically.

"Do you know what 'Fitz' means?" he asks. "As a part of a family name? It means – in Scotland – that the family was an illegitimate offshoot of some other family, like...the Simmons, for example." (No insult to Jemma – wherever she currently is – but her idea of being the FitzSimmons was actually one of the less liked points of her friendship with Fitz.) "Since our name was _just_ Fitz, it meant that we weren't even recognized bastards, you know?" He pauses. "I'm not a bastard-"

"I am," Raina says quietly. Before Leo can comment on that, the elevator finally opens in the lobby, and there is a misunderstanding.

The misunderstanding is everything that Leo is not – tall, broad-shouldered, rather handsome (but Leo _is_ straight, thank you very much), and is clearly upset at seeing Raina upset. Since his fists look almost big enough as Leo's whole face, the engineer feels a natural urge to back down – but he is a cadet at the Academy, and so he stands his ground, foolishly, perhaps-

"Hey, brother," Raina says from behind Leo (she is taller than he is in those heels). "Can we talk?"

"Brother?" Leo blinks. Starting with the obvious – the color – the newcomer looks more like his brother than Raina's.

"Brother," the latter nods, toning down the hostility a bit. "Grant Ward."

"Husband," Leo says, and takes one of the other man's hands in order to shake it. "Leo Fitz – or rather, Underwood."

There is a pause. "Breakfast?" Raina breaks it. "Please?"

And her voice is such, that both men comply.

/

The breakfast is an uninspiring affair, as the trio just eye each other rather than eat.

"So," Leo decides to be brave all the way. "Brother?"

"Yes," the other man – Grant – nods. "From another mother. Our father, biologically, is one Roderick Ward, a U.S. senator. My mother was his wife, Rosemary. Raina's, on the other hand, was one of their domestic servants."

"Their?" Leo makes a point.

"Yes. Grandma Dot had raised us – happiest times ever," Raina joins in, as she shows Leo a photo – a photo of an aged, but dignified, woman, and three children, two boys and a girl. The girl is clearly Raina, but the family similarities between her and the other people in the photo are quite evident.

"You look like your grandma," Leo tells her. "Not that you don't, too," he quickly tells Grant.

"But yes, Raina is the one who looks the most like her, I agree," the latter replies, as he shows Leo his own photo – which is the same as Raina's. "The other boy in the photo is Thomas, our brother."

"Brother?"

"His mother was father's secretary; he was a boy, and the right, well, color, so he was recognized and adopted by Roderick and his wife; he was actually treated better than any of us, because of all the PR, and as such he isn't a part of this," Grant explains further.

"A part-?" Leo coaxes, and Grant obliges by producing his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. Raina follows suit more reluctantly – it is the same sort of badge that Leo himself has, one that indicates that he, just like Raina, is a student of the Academy who is about to graduate. "So, you also took your time to unwind from the stress?" he asks her.

"Sort of," Raina admits quietly. "I wasn't having a good time lately. Brother dear, he really enjoys working for S.H.I.E.L.D. how it helps people – do you, Leo, like helping people BTW?"

Leo opened his mouth, before his brain caught up with him and fed him some truths and lines that he had not expect to share with anyone else other than Simmons. "Yes," he said, "but in truth so far all I've been working on were my inventions. Well, mine and Simmons', but still. I have been talking to agents Walker and Ramsay in regards to field work; they are not very enthusiastic, but-"

"But you deserve a chance, plus even SciandTech agents need some field experience for their resume or whatever," Grant nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe I can help."

"I don't need your help," Leo glared. "I'm – almost an agent just like you."

"Yes, but, I want to," Grant looked quietly, and for once the family similarity between him and Raina is evident – the eyes, the quiet, sad gaze, even the intonations of their voices are similar. "Leo-"

"Just Leo is fine-"

"Raina isn't who she looks like. She swore that she will first get married and then there will be sex-"

"And it happened," Leo says, showing Grant the ring. Raina follows suit. "What are you saying?"

"Can you give her a chance? I know that this was not planned-"

"What kind of a man do you think I am?" Leo is suddenly too angry to be scared of the bigger man.

"That's the point – I don't know because I never met you."

"...That's a fair point," Leo deflated. "Maybe we could, uh, bond?"

There is a pause as two men eye each other, suspecting that they do not have too much in common.

"Good idea," Raina suddenly speaks up. "Grant could use more friends-"

"Raina."

"Grant."

The two siblings glare at each other. Their faces are not identical, but their expressions are much more so. Clearly, this is an old argument, one that Leo needs to know more about-

"Leo? What is going on? Why are you here?" Jemma Simmons appeared like some sort of a character in a poorly written family comedy (though not one made by Adam Sandler, thank God). "Who are your new friends?" she adds, with a dash of more suspicion.

"Um," Leo gulped. Facing a stranger who was twice his size and disproportionally stronger? No problem. Facing his lab partner and friend? Something else. "Well, er, this is Grant – he's my new brother-in-law. And this is Raina. She's, well, my wife."

Silence, especially from Simmons, who looks as if Leo – or even Grant had punched her in the gut.

Yes, this could have definitely been handled better.

End


End file.
